This invention is directed to the field of portable and collapsible covers for motorized vehicles and boats, more particularly to a removable and collapsible cover system that can be easily operated to protect a person""s automobile or boat, for example, where the convenience of a closed and permanent garage is not available.
The present invention relates to a temporary cover, that is collapsible over a selected vehicle or automobile, to protect same against inclement weather and sun damage. Typically, especially along coastal areas, temporary car ports for vehicles and boats are found, where such car ports consist of plural, spaced apart, U-shaped members, anchored in the ground, having plural interlocking metal sheets positioned along the tops of the U-shaped members. Such structures are open at the respective ends for easy access to the stored vehicle or boat. However, they are relatively permanent and do not offer full protection against sun and salt, two particular damaging elements to painted bodies, etc.
The prior art offers a number of alternatives to these temporary car ports, where such alternatives are described in the following U.S. Patents:
a.) U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,171, to Minimo, teaches a collapsible protective canopy useful as both a sun-shade and frostshield for motor vehicles. The canopy is made of a sheet of corrugated cardboard, laminated cardboard, vinyl, leather, nylon, plastic, synthetic, or combinations thereof, or any other material in which fold line impressions, indentations or creases can be made to define parallel folds which can be stretched and compressed like the bellows of an accordion. The sheet includes a center portion and two side portions provided with belts on opposite ends of the sheet for securing the canopy to a car body. The sheet is alternately foldable to a compact package for convenient handling and storage.
b.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,127, to Fournier, is directed to an apparatus for a cover for the upper portion of a vehicle including the roof and all windshields. The cover is comprised of a top portion that lays flat along the roof of a vehicle, a front and back panel that drape over the respective windshields and two side panels that are attached to the front, back and top panels. Connected to the side panels are fastening devices that allow the cover to adjust to vehicles of many different sizes. Cords stretch from the either the front, the back, or all four edges of the side panels to attach to the under-side of the wheel wells by means of a hook or other fastening device. A belt is attached to each corner of each side panel. Each belt moves toward the center of the vehicle through a series of loops on the side panel. The two belts on each side meet and are fastened together at approximately mid-vehicle, pulling the cover down to snugly fit the contour of a particular vehicle. The top cover is also comprised of two flaps that are connected with both the edge of the side panel and the edge of the top panel. The flaps hang into the vehicle so that once the doors are shut and locked the cover becomes secured to the car thereby helping prevent theft.
c.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,403, to Tyson, relates to a vehicle protective cover includes a plurality of lightweight separable panels, each having an inner layer, a thicker shock absorbing center layer, and a substantially thinner outer layer that defines a skirt having plural spaced-apart tie-down lines for securing the cover on the vehicle with the skirt disposed extending from the vehicle in a tensioned, stand-off position.
d.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,006, to Pettigrew, teaches a protective vehicle cover for the prevention and reduction of damage from hail and similar free falling bodies. A reversible waterproof vinyl on two sides of an impact resistant plastic material covers the top, sides, front, and rear surfaces of a vehicle. The impact resistant material transmits the force of the impact to its opposing side to reduce the amount of force per unit of area so as to prevent damage as the force is transmitted to the vehicle. Utilization of the impact resistant material permits a product which is light weight, compact, portable, and stores easily in a vehicle trunk compartment.
e.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,594, to O""Neill, is directed to a protective cover for a vehicle comprised of a portion of sheet material and a number of inflatable bags. The cover is fixed to the vehicle by suitable means, for example, hooks or elastic ties, and the bags are inflated to space the sheet material a distance from the body of the vehicle. The position of the inflatable bags may be adjusted to allow the cover to be used with various vehicle body shapes. Means may be provided for simultaneous inflation or deflation of the inflatable bags. By spacing the sheet material from the body of the vehicle, the cover affords a degree of protection to the vehicle from falling projectiles and other such hazards.
While the above prior art protective systems offer some help in covering a vehicle against the elements of the weather, none provide the ease and flexibliity of a protective system that can be moved to selected locations and suitable anchored against excessive wind damage. The manner by which the present invention achieves such goals will become apparent in the description which follows
This invention is directed to a portable and collapsible vehicle storage system, such as may be used to protect an automobile or boat against inclement weather. The system comprises a generally U-shaped base having an opening wide enough to accommodate the vehicle. The base consists of an end wall having a pair of generally parallel side walls extending therefrom. The respective side walls mount a plurality of pivotal, U-shaped canopy support members, where adjacent said members are hinged to one another. Overlying and attached to said support members is a flexible canopy top, such as may be made of canvas. At least one ratchet arm is provided to manually pivot the joined U-shaped members from an open position in which the vehicle may be parked, to a closed position containing and covering the vehicle. Temporary anchoring means are provided to secure both the base and the closed canopy to the ground. Further, a removably secured opening may be provided to access the closed canopy top, as well as a light transmitting window. In a preferred system, the plural U-shaped support members have varying heights, where said support members are sequentially arranged from the shortest near the end wall to the longest near the open end of the base.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a simple, yet effective, portable vehicle storage system that may be readily placed at selected locations.
Another object hereof is the provision of a closable canopy top by manual means.
A further object of the invention lies in the use of plural, U-shaped support members mounting a flexible canopy top, where the plural support members are moved sequentially by a single ratchet member.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the description which follows.